THE HUNTSMAN 49 



gone, Mr. Brown ? Which way do you^ Mr. 

 Green ? " 



Huntsmen — hounds, servants in general — have one 

 charming quality ; they look down upon every other 

 species of amusement with the most superlative con- 

 tempt. We like this. It shows genuine enthusiasm, 

 without which there is little chance for anything in 

 this world. We never heard or read of but one 

 servant who followed hunting merely as a livelihood, 

 without reference to the enjoyment, and without 

 having any natural inclination that way, or indeed 

 any pleasure in the chase, and that was a man of the 

 name of Filer, formerly Huntsman to the Craven 

 hounds, who used candidly to say, "he never liked 

 foxhunting, but having been bred up with hounds he 

 would stick to them." We have heard of men being 

 brought up to the bar, the sea, or the church, and 

 not liking their professions, but sticking to them ; but 

 really, for a man to stick to hunting merely because 

 he had been brought up with hounds, does seem a 

 piece of pure self-devotion. He had better have 

 turned policeman. How different to some of the 

 stories that Beckford and Cook tell ! Old Luke 

 Freeman, who hunted Lord Egremont's hounds, used 

 to say to his lordship's sons, when he caught them 

 reading, " Stoody, stoody, stoody ! aye studying they 

 books ! take, I say, my advice, sir, and stoody fox- 

 hunting." Luke, Colonel Cook says, gave his whole 

 body and mind to it, and famously he succeeded, as 

 all the country around could testify. A wag, for 

 amusement, and to annoy a musical friend that was 

 present, asked the old Huntsman " how he employed 

 his time out of the hunting season ? " The veteran 

 disdained a reply to a question that showed so little 

 knowledge of the duties and cares of a Huntsman, 

 and the querist proceeded with, "What think you 

 of music for an amusement ? " " Music ! " con- 

 temptuously echoed Luke. " Ay, fiddling, Mr. 

 4 



